


Support

by FeatherQuilt88



Series: The Amber Dragon Anthology [22]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Babies, Canon-Divergent from Everything Else, Comedy, Cute, Cute Kids, Dadko, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fire Lord Zuko, Flowers, Gen, Grandma Ursa, Happy, Happy Family, Humor, Love, Politics, Post-Canon for the Original Series, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, patience - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27726829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatherQuilt88/pseuds/FeatherQuilt88
Summary: Somewhat accidentally, Iroh and Zuko set a new trend in court fashion.
Relationships: Iroh & Original Child Character(s), Iroh & Ursa (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Ursa & Zuko (Avatar), Ursa (Avatar) & Original Child Character(s), Zuko & Original Child Character(s)
Series: The Amber Dragon Anthology [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988473
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68





	Support

**Author's Note:**

> For readers new to my "Amber Dragon" fanfic series (which is post-canon for the original series and canon-divergent from everything else)--in it, Ursa spent her time at the perfume-making abbey during her exile. Zuko is married to Jin, and Kiwa (fancharacter) is their first child. Chiko (other fancharacter) is a little orphan girl whom Iroh adopted. They live in Capital City with Zuko, and Iroh and Zuko call each other "Dad" and "Son" now (but still technically remain uncle and nephew as far as legal contract goes, for political reasons).
> 
> The named members of Zuko's court are all random fancharacters of mine as well.
> 
> PS: Shout-out to mintdr (friend from DeviantArt) for inspiring this little story in a conversation we had, where I mentioned Chiko putting flowers in Iroh's and Zuko's hair, and she suggested it might set a new fashion in the Fire Nation. ;)

Giggles of varying pitches float through this rather small room of the Fire palace.

In one corner, Ursa rocks back and forth with Kiwa, bonding with her new grandbaby. She delights in the infant's soft gurgles, raising her stumpy hands to her lips and kissing them again and again. "Ohhh..." Zuko's mother rubs her graceful nose against his first child's--her and Kiwa's golden eyes blinking brightly at each other, understanding each other perfectly.

Barely a footstep away from their rocking-chair, Iroh and Chiko are playing with a huge pot of osmanthus blossoms the servants have brought in. These fresh-washed blooms will go to flavor the cooks' jellies or Ursa's perfumes, eventually--what petals aren't snatched up by eager little hands.

"You're gonna look so pretty, Bapa!" Chiko crows happily, placing the little stems in every gray notch of his beard.

"Well, I doubt I will ever be as pretty as _you_ or Auntie Ursa, with all these wrinkles," Iroh chuckles softly, touching his forehead (and makes time to throw a complimentary wink at his sister-in-law).

"Well then, that just means ya need even more flowers!" Chiko decides, nodding in her childlike logic. She already has several osmanthus blossoms in her own hair, and she tugs at her adoptive father's kimono-hem to get him to bend further down, so she can pepper his own silver locks with them. And then add some more to his beard for good measure. "There, see? How pretty!" she beams.

Ursa chuckles fondly at them both, raising an elegant hand to her mouth with delight. Then Kiwa mews, demanding her attention again.

And then Zuko walks into this domestic scene. His eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. "DAD!!"

Iroh and Chiko both look up, absolutely covered in spots of orange and white. "What's wrong, Big Ko?" the little princess' own forehead screws up now, a bit contrite.

"We're _supposed_ to be in the conference hall in five minutes!" the young Fire Lord addresses this to their adoptive father.

_Iroh had been very careful about making no court appearances at all, for the first few years of Zuko's reign. But now that the young monarch has become more established--with a royal heir to boot, this past month!--his guardian can risk an occasional speech or attendance, amongst the representatives. Not that he very often WANTS to--Prince Iroh is quite content to be a humble teamaker or a harmless palace eccentric, depending on his mood and the day. But once in a while, a matter may rise asking his attention._

_Such as this recent affair concerning a monument to the heroes of Ba-Sing-Se. As Iroh was present at the battle to liberate the city--led the charge, in fact, as the Grand Lotus--it was only natural that he should be on the committee. There's just one slight problem._

"That was _today?_ " Iroh blinks, twiddling with the edge of his beard--a bit confused, but calm.

Zuko flings his arms wide in exasperation--his ample sleeves, in full royal regalia, making a loud _fwumph!_ noise. " _YES, that was today!!_ " he mimics the old prince's question, with not nearly as much calm.

Iroh pats his broad sides, suddenly looking down to see if his obi is posh enough. It's thankfully quite a nice one he picked out today, with lots of gold embroidery. But then he also looks down at his gray whiskers, absolutely showered in orange and white blossoms. He touches one of Chiko's little gifts, and realizes, "I... I don't have time to brush all of these out...." His amber eyes are as apologetic to Zuko as they are to Chiko.

Zuko's face is half-droop, half-stone. The silence is broken by another giggle from Chiko--and if it were possible, small and new as she is, a soft sound arises from Kiwa that sounds like it _might_ be a giggle too. Ursa is covering her own mouth, to prevent a similar chuckle of her own escaping.

As frustrated as he is, Zuko is a fond father, and he immediately melts at the sight of his mother cradling his child. He strides gracefully over to the rocking-chair, the billow of his cape scattering a few of the stray osmanthus blossoms on the ground. He bends over and kisses Kiwa's tiny face, from where she lays in Ursa's arms--a widening smile finally softening his visage. For a moment, as his golden eyes twinkle over Kiwa's, all care is forgotten.

But five minutes is not a lot of time to solve a problem, and so the young Fire Lord sighs after these few seconds of rest. He looks quickly over at Iroh and Chiko--whose pudgy hands are both fluttering at Iroh's silver locks (front and back), seeming undecided whether to pluck as many flowers as they can back out, or to leave them all in. After all, a half-petal-dotted beard might look sort of ragged, and therefore even less presentable than a full-petal-dotted one would be....

Zuko then looks over to some of Ursa's potted plants on the windowsill. He makes a calculation. "Mom..." he takes a deep, disciplined breath and requests; "get one of those lilies and put it in my hair, please. Behind my ear."

Now it's Ursa's turn to blink, and then melt into a broadening smile. " _Zu_ ko..." she breathes a loving chuckle, suddenly realizing _exactly_ what her son is doing. He fights to keep his stony visage, one edge of his mouth nearly curling up at the humor of the situation. Despite the personal embarrassment that will ensue.

Ursa cheerfully plucks one of her largest blooms, happy to make the sacrifice. She slides it over Zuko's ear with her warm hands, pressing her nose briefly to his, just as she did to her new grandbaby's. _I'm VERY proud of you,_ her eyes tell him.

***

Less than ten minutes later, Zuko and Iroh are flaunting into court--Zuko in particular showing amazing discipline, in how he pretends nothing is out of the ordinary. Some of the councilmen gasp, then cover their mouths before they forget themselves.

Iroh, in full flower, trots unusually timidly behind his royal nephew. Zuko spreads his cape with deliberate pomp, as he plops into his throne at the head of the table. His hard golden eyes scan the scene, _daring_ any one of his advisors to mention the large, beautiful lily in his black locks. Or--by the same token--the innumerable osmanthus blossoms in his uncle's silver ones.

"You were saying, gentlemen? And ladies?"

The council members gulp, and get straight to business.

***

Zuko would have thought that was the end of it. But the very next week, as he steps into his next large conference, it is his turn to gasp.

Councilman Katsuo has a lovely row of purple bush-clovers in his black beard. Lady Arisu's impressive buns are absolutely covered in pink chrysanthemum-puffs. General Chonglin, of all people, has apparently decided to try the same osmanthus-snow trick as Iroh (and Chiko) did. And Councilwoman Den-Cho is absolutely _bedecked_ with yellow roses. (Though admittedly, with Den-Cho, any playful stunt like this would not be quite as unexpected as it would be for the others. And yellow has always been her favorite color--some whisper that she may have Air Nomad blood.)

The nobles from Shuhon have dotted themselves with hydrangeas, the set from Ember Island have brought their native hibiscus, twined up in their topknots and sideburns... every inch of Zuko's council chamber, in fact, suddenly looks like an overflowing garden.

His jaw hangs open, for a few seconds--suddenly feeling very underdressed, with his own hair hanging bare today (save its usual crown, of course).

***

Some of the foreign visitors to Capital City laugh. Some of the local "old guard" snort. But most smile, in fact, to see the bounty of orchids, chrysanthemums, cherry-blossoms, and other such flowers, all riding in the topknots and locks and facial hair of the young and old, the male and female, alike.

Thus it is, that Lord Zuko's kind act of support for his father-figure has set a trend in Fire Nation fashion, that will last for several colorful seasons to come.


End file.
